Clay weekly context brief for the Research News category (ISO week 2026-W35). Clay tracks publications from the Research News feed list. Below are recent items from this category, each with its source and a short description of what the publication covers when one is available in the source feed. Recent publications: 1. Could teaching assistants be an overlooked teacher pipeline? New research says yes Source: Phys.org Link: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-overlooked-teacher-pipeline.html As school districts continue searching for ways to recruit and retain teachers, new research from UNC-Chapel Hill suggests one promising pipeline may already be in classrooms: teaching assistants. 2. AI-driven robotics for optics Source: Science Advances Link: https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/sciadv.aee1381?af=R Science Advances, Volume 12, Issue 34, August 2026. 3. Is NSFs new call for research proposals good news? Scientists and staffers have doubts Source: Science News Current Link: https://www.science.org/content/article/nsf-s-new-call-research-proposals-good-news-scientists-and-staffers-have-doubts The long-delayed 12 solicitations only cover some disciplinesand promise to give them much less money 4. The lab that learns Source: Science Journal Link: https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aee2448?af=R Science, Volume 393, Issue 6813, Page 761-763, August 2026. 5. Piecing together pregnancys early warning system Source: Science Technology Link: https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/scitranslmed.aeh8792?af=R Science Translational Medicine, Volume 18, Issue 863, August 2026. 6. Merck and Moderna's Melanoma Results Source: Science Pipeline Link: https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/merck-and-moderna-s-melanoma-results Moderna and Merck have been working together for some years now on cancer therapies that would combine Mercks Keytruda antibody with personalized mRNA immunotherapy from Moderna (update: in a therapy co-developed and co-owned by both companies). 7. A genome-wide map of the genetic network in monocytes that regulates type I interferon induction by the cGAS-STING pathway Source: Science Signaling Link: https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/scisignal.adx3808?af=R Science Signaling, Volume 19, Issue 951, August 2026. 8. Justice Department calls three NSF diversity programs unconstitutional Source: Science Careers Link: https://www.science.org/content/article/justice-department-calls-three-nsf-diversity-programs-unconstitutional New ruling bars programs said to discriminate by race and sex, six others can continue if modified 9. Evolution of humanoid locomotion control Source: Science Robotics Link: https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/scirobotics.aed3973?af=R Science Robotics, Volume 11, Issue 117, August 2026. 10. Mist-ical memory: The airway defenses induced by FluMist vaccination in adults Source: Science Immunology Link: https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/sciimmunol.ael0169?af=R Science Immunology, Volume 11, Issue 122, August 2026. 11. Programmable design of synthetic plant immune receptors for pathogen protein recognition Source: Science First Release Link: https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aee1792?af=R Science, Ahead of Print. 12. Collaborative drawing offers new insights into how strangers become friends Source: Phys.org Link: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-collaborative-insights-strangers-friends.html The closer two people grow, the more alike their brains workor so the assumption goes. 13. Impacts of land use and fallowing on coccidioidomycosis incidence in California: A population-based longitudinal study Source: Science Advances Link: https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/sciadv.aec0156?af=R Science Advances, Volume 12, Issue 34, August 2026. 14. Truck-size crocodilians once ruled South Americas wetlands Source: Science News Current Link: https://www.science.org/content/article/truck-size-crocodilians-once-ruled-south-america-s-wetlands The regions enormous herbivores, some weighing more than 1 ton, were no match for this prehistoric beast 15. Touch and pain shape what brain imaging sees Source: Science Journal Link: https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aek1809?af=R Science, Volume 393, Issue 6813, Page 760-761, August 2026. 16. A phase 1 feasibility trial of BE-CAR33, an off-the-shelf base-edited CAR33 T cell therapy for acute myeloid leukemia Source: Science Technology Link: https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/scitranslmed.aei0875?af=R Science Translational Medicine, Volume 18, Issue 863, August 2026. 17. More Alzheimer's Research Trouble Source: Science Pipeline Link: https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/more-alzheimer-s-research-trouble This is a new investigation here at Science that suggests some serious problems in an area of Alzheimers work thats had a lot of attention in recent years. 18. NIH is ending a key grant for budding clinical researchers Source: Science Careers Link: https://www.science.org/content/article/nih-ending-key-grant-budding-clinical-researchers Agency will no longer allow K career awards to fund clinical trials 19. Are humanoid robots in 2035 more fiction than science? Source: Science Robotics Link: https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/scirobotics.aek6923?af=R Science Robotics, Volume 11, Issue 117, August 2026. 20. PKM2 works off the books to drive effector T cell function in MS Source: Science Immunology Link: https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/sciimmunol.ael0168?af=R Science Immunology, Volume 11, Issue 122, August 2026. 21. Manipulation of protein translation and stem cell self-renewal by CRISPR activation of rRNA transcription Source: Science First Release Link: https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.aeh1348?af=R Science, Ahead of Print. 22. Oldest human brain cells grown in lab 'recorded passage of time' Source: Phys.org Link: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-oldest-human-brain-cells-grown.html Peppercorn-sized clumps of human brain cells grown in a lab for a record seven years aged similarly to those inside our heads, suggesting they "recorded the passage of time," scientists said Wednesday. 23. Structural basis for target discrimination and activation by Cas13d Source: Science Advances Link: https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/sciadv.aec4221?af=R Science Advances, Volume 12, Issue 34, August 2026. 24. NASA abandons orbit-boosting rescue mission for space observatory Source: Science News Current Link: https://www.science.org/content/article/nasa-abandons-orbit-boosting-rescue-mission-space-observatory Novel rescue craft unable to connect with doomed Swift Observatory Sources in this brief: Phys.org; Science Advances; Science Careers; Science First Release; Science Immunology; Science Journal; Science News Current; Science Pipeline; Science Robotics; Science Signaling; Science Technology. Selected 24 of 148 available items for this weekly brief.